Little Blue Pills Among the Ways CIA Wins Friends in Afghanistan  —  The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women.  His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity …

Poll: Obama is man Americans admire most  —  WASHINGTON — A month before his inauguration, Americans choose Barack Obama as the man they admire most in the world, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.  It's the first time a president-elect has topped the annual survey in more than a half-century.

RNC candidate distributes controversial Obama song  —  RNC candidate Chip Saltsman's Christmas greeting to committee members includes a music CD with lyrics from a song called “Barack the Magic Negro,” first played on Rush Limbaugh's popular radio show.  —  Saltsman, a personal friend …

Bush Is a Book Lover  —  A glimpse of what the president has been reading.  —  With only five days left, my lead is insurmountable.  The competition can't catch up.  And for the third year in a row, I'll triumph.  In second place will be the president of the United States.

Republicans are blinded by love  —  Lefties just don't have the same feeling about America as the hard right does.  —  Idon't love America.  That's what conservatives are always telling liberals like me.  Their love, they insist, is truer, deeper and more complete.

Send Caroline Kennedy to Court of St. James  —  (UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown receiving bust of John F. Kennedy from Caroline Kennedy)  —  Caroline Kennedy is having a rough time convincing fellow New York-based Dems that she's good for them.  If she really, really wants to be in the rough …

American Shores Face Threat of Rising Sea Level  —  Report Projects 4-Foot Rise in Global Sea Level by End of Century  —  An Iditarod without snow, Florida's coastal towns lost forever to the Gulf of Mexico, wheat farmers in Kansas without crops.  —  What sounds like the climatic end …

Retail Sales Plummet  —  Price-slashing failed to rescue a bleak holiday season for beleaguered retailers, as sales plunged across most categories on shrinking consumer spending, according to new data released Thursday.  —  Despite a flurry of last-minute shoppers lured by the deep discounts …

The Pakistan Shift  —  Rising tensions with India are prompting Pakistan to shift forces away from fighting the Taliban near the Afghan border and toward preparations for a subcontinental standoff.  And of course they are — Pakistan has no choice but to make its situation vis-a-vis India its primary security concern.

Kennedy: Would have run earlier if her name weren't Kennedy, ‘dismayed’ by own voting record  —  Caroline Kennedy, diving in on an otherwise slow news day, also spoke to NY1 News, making her case as an “unconventional” choice for the Senate, responding to the suggestion that she's only in the race …

Burning Coal at Home Is Making a Comeback  —  SUGARLOAF, Pa. — Kyle Buck heaved open the door of a makeshift bin abutting his suburban ranch house.  Staring at a two-ton pile of coal that was delivered by truck a few weeks ago, Mr. Buck worried aloud that it would not be enough to last the winter.

Trooper Says Election Delayed Alaska Drug Case  —  WASILLA, Alaska — The mother of Bristol Palin's boyfriend sent text messages discussing drug transactions less than a month after the young woman's mother, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was nominated as the Republican vice presidential candidate …

A Parting Shot at Women's Rights  —  Undermining women's reproductive rights and access to health care has been a pervasive theme of the outgoing administration.  On his first full day in office, President Bush imposed the “global gag rule,” which prohibits taxpayer dollars …

Palestinian rocket kills 2 Gaza girls  —  Palestinians misfire rocket, two Gaza girls killed after Qassam hits home in northern Strip; earlier Friday, Palestinian man wounded by misfired rocket taken for treatment in Israeli hospital  —  A rocket apparently fired by Palestinians on Friday struck …

Jeb Bush poised for Florida Senate run  —  As Caroline Kennedy pursues her bright-lights, big-city bid for the U.S. Senate, another child of dynasty is quietly testing the waters for his own Senate run.  —  Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush - the son of one president and the brother of another …